Recipe: Fettuccini with Duck & Wild Mushroom Ragu

Looking over the blog posts the last couple of months it would appear that I have not been feeding my family. Really, I have, just not much new and original.

See, the kids have at least one thing each going on each weeknight, so recent dinners in this household have been trending toward the quick and uninspiring: cheeseburgers and fries, or a main dish salad, or a veggie wrap which can be scarfed down between play practice and dance class.

Plus the oven on my relatively new JennAir shit the bed, which I’m really pissed about – this is the second thing to go wrong with this very expensive appliance in the not quite three years we’ve had it.

Plus the weather is getting nicer, so it's becoming more difficult to justify spending a day in the kitchen.

But there I was in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago, and I kept hearing my name being called, and eventually located the source, which was a six-pound duckling in the freezer section that badly wanted to come home with me.

This pasta sauce is sort of a mash-up of two different ideas from the Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian book. It is rich and earthy, and with homemade fettuccini (also from the Frug), fresh-baked bread (thank heavens we still have the old range, with its functioning oven), a salad and the obligatory bottle of Chianti, oh my goodness. If I do say so myself.  This is one that would do Chef Kerry at Cafe Miranda proud.

Disclaimer: Time consuming, but makes a lot and leftovers freeze very well.  Roast the duck early in the day, start the sauce in the early afternoon, make the pasta dough around four and everything will come together at once at dinnertime.

Fettuccini with Duck & Wild Mushroom Ragu

1 5-6 lb ducking

1 oz mixed dried mushrooms
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced

2 yellow onions, minced

1 stalk celery, chopped fine

1 medium carrot, peeled & chopped fine

4 fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 28-oz cans whole plum tomatoes, undrained

4 tablespoons parsley flakes

½ teaspoon marjoram

½ teaspoon rosemary

3/4 cup white wine

Salt & pepper to taste

Grated parmesan 

Rinse the duck and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper and roast at 375 about 2 hours. Set aside to cool, then bone and coarsely shred the meat. Reserve the drippings.

While the duck is roasting, simmer the neck and giblets in enough water to cover to make stock, and rehydrate the mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups (more or less) boiling water. 

Remove the mushrooms from the soaking liquid - do not discard the liquid - squeeze out the excess liquid and finely chop the mushrooms.  Strain and reserve the soaking liquid.

Heat the oil in a stock pot and saute the mushrooms, garlic, onion, celery and carrot until the onion is clear. Add the fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, wine, parsley, marjoram and rosemary.  Crush the whole canned tomatoes with a potato masher so they are chunky. 

Add enough duck stock and defatted duck drippings to the mushroom soaking liquid to measure about 3 cups.  Add this to the tomato mixture.  Bring everything to a simmer and cook uncovered for 3-4 hours, stirring often and periodically crushing the tomatoes.  The sauce will reduce by nearly half.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in shredded duck meat and heat through.  Serve over pasta, garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Pasta:

1.5 cups bread flour

1 cup semolina flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon water, more if needed

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Crack the eggs into the well and add the olive oil and water.  Mix thoroughly and knead until it holds together - the dough will be very stiff.  Allow to rest covered for 1/2 hour.  Divide dough into eight equal parts, roll and cut.  Allow to dry at least an hour, then cook three or four minutes in boiling water.  Drain and serve hot.